Thursday Morning Coffee: The Thursday Five.

Good Thursday Morning, Fellow Seekers. We just have a few minutes before we rush off to tape this week's edition of the Terry Madonna Politics and Musical Variety Hour.

So while we continue our ongoing efforts to singlehandedly resuscitate the career of Topo Gigio, who, as far as we are concerned, is the world's funniest mouse, why don't you check out the rest and the best of this morning's political headlines.

1. U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey is holding three public forums this week before Congress returns from its August recess. Our Washington colleague, Colby Itkowitz, ventured up to scenic Coudersport in Potter County yesterday for the first of them, and found it a generally tame affair. This either means that the fine folks in Potter County don't have much on their minds or the Toomey camp's decision to stock up on liquid sedatives that dissolve easily in free coffee is paying early dividends.

2. Former state House Speaker John M. Perzel has pleaded guilty to eight felonies related to the ongoing public corruption probe known as Bonusgate. As a condition of his plea, Perzel, 61, a Philadelphia Republican, has to tell investigators from the state Attorney General's Office everything he knows and may well be called to testify against some of his former colleagues at a trial later this month. There is a good chance that there are many in Harrisburg who do not relish the thought of Perzel emptying his memory banks in exchange for sympathetic treatment at sentencing.

3. Cumberald County GOP Rep. Glenn Grell is prepping legislation for a state takeover of the financially troubled city of Harrisburg, the Patriot-News reports this morning. The news comes on the heels of a decision by the city council to reject another financial recovery plan as the city creeps closer to missing payroll and debt obligations, the AP also reports.

4. A state appellate court has rejected state Sen. Jane Orie's claim that she cannot be retried on corruption charges, the Tribune-Review reports this morning. A three-judge Superior Court panel upheld Allegheny County Court Judge Jeffrey A. Manning's mistrial ruling in March after the discovery of forged defense documents. The court's 22-page opinion stopped short of dumping blame for for the forgeries in Orie's lap, but the panel did say they were introduced as evidence critical to the suburban Pittsburgh lawmaker's defense, the Trib reported.

5. The House State Government Committee wrapped up a 2-day hearing on immigration reform yesterday, amid complaints from the panel's Democrats that a proposed 14-bill package would be "restrictive," Capitolwire reports this morning. “I definitely agree with a number of testifiers that there should be more reforms at the national level to address many on these concerns,” Rep. Tim Briggs, D-Montgomery, said. “I have concerns at the state level that the proposals will be restrictive. I do feel that if we rush into this, we are really going to hurt many of our constituents.” Bills before the committee would, among other things, require people to prove citizenship before receiving public benefits and sanction employers who knowingly hire undocumented workers.

What Goes On.Gov. Tom Corbett is in Mechanicsburg, Cumberland County this morning for a ceremony at the regional Naval Support Base, where he'll commemorate Pennsylvania State Police officers who've served in the military since the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks. Corbett will be joined by PSP Commissioner Frank Noonan and political personality/carnival barker Oliver North.

You Say It's Your Birthday Dept. Natal greetings go out this morning to our erstwhile podcasting pal Scott Detrow of WITF-FM here in Harrisburg. Hey ... our Dad has a barn. We could put on a show. Greetings also to Capitolwire's Pete DeCoursey and Tom Barnes of the Post-Gazette, who we're pretty sure is retired but insists on continuing to work anyway. Good God, man, go have a scotch. You've earned it. Additional good wishes to local Patch editor Amanda B. Gillooly and House GOP communications guy Ty McCauslin. Congrats all around.

Thursday's Gratuitous Soccer Link. If you heard a loud slamming noise emanating from the general direction of the Atlantic coast yesterday, don't worry it wasn't another hurricane. But it was the sound of the summer transfer window for European football slamming shut for another season. Action abounded yesterday as teams acquired the players they hope will propel them into the top-flight of the game. The Guardian has the full round up of all of yesterday's action.

All right. That's it for now. We'll be back later today with much, much more. See you all back here in a bit.